Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Roanoke, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA), Roanoke, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 250 miles (or 403 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the relatively short distance between Wallops Flight Facility Airport and Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• Major Wallops facilities include FAA-certified runways.
• Because of Wallops Flight Facility Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Wallops Flight Facility Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• The furthest airport from Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,785 miles (18,965 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1945, NASA's predecessor agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, established a rocket launch site on Wallops Island under the direction of the Langley Research Center.
• The Wallops Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• LCT2 is an effort to produce a relatively low-cost transceiver to allow launch vehicles to communicate through NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System after they have gone over the horizon from the launch site.

Facts about Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA):

• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 315,293 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 297,588 enplanements in 2009, and 316,478 in 2010.
• By 1934, American Airlines began service to Roanoke, but they later moved their operations to Lynchburg in 1937 due to the poor conditions in Roanoke.
• During the period of Piedmont’s dominance, several regional airlines established service to Roanoke only to later pull out.
• In addition to being known as "Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport", another name for ROA is "Woodrum Field".
• Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,559 miles (18,603 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA) is Virginia Tech Montgomery Executive Airport (BCB), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) WSW of ROA.
• Designed for future expansion to accommodate additional aircraft, there has been talk of a terminal expansion, though official plans have yet to be announced.
• In the time since the initial commercial service to Roanoke commenced in 1933, various airlines have offered non-stop service to and from Roanoke.
• Although Roanoke has never had international passenger service, in 2001, the Airport Commission was prepared to change the airport's name to Roanoke International Airport.
• Federal funding for a new tower fell through in both 1993 and 1997, but in 1999 the FAA announced they were restarting the Roanoke project, paving the way for its construction.